[b-greek] Re: Ignatius to the Ephesians, Greeting

From: Richard Ghilardi (qodeshlayhvh@juno.com)
Date: Fri Jul 27 2001 - 09:45:45 EDT


Dear Richard S.,

[Stauch]

Looking up FOROS, it seems to indicate a "tribute, or tax; usually paid
to a foreign ruler." Perhaps, it should be "Ignatius, also called
Theophorus," as Lake transcribes it in the Loeb book I am using (I
promise, that is the first time I looked, and the only thing I looked at
;) ). If the word QEOFOROS is to be considered other than a name, perhaps
it would be better translated "Tribute to God." (Considering Ignatius'
story, this makes good sense, as he considered his coming martyrdom
something he owed to God.) BASTAZWN might be translated "bearer," (as I
remember from my Catholic days TOKOS is supposed to be translated
"bearer", but that appears to mean the result of bringing forth,
"offspring, or interest").

[Ghilardi]

Ignatius was the first writer in Greek to use QEOFOROS as a proper noun,
or rather as I would say, a nickname. But he only uses it in this way in
the salutations of his letters. He never uses it as a proper noun
anywhere else. This would suggest that he wishes his readers to focus on
the meaning that the word conveys rather than merely providing us with an
alternative designation for himself. So in rendering this word into
another language it would be better to TRANSLATE it appropriately than to
TRANSLITERATE it (as Lake does) as though it were a proper noun.

What is an appropriate translation?

You have suggested, << Tribute to God >>.

You have given two supporting reasons:
1) the definition of FOROS, i.e., "tribute, or tax; usually paid to a
foreign ruler."
2) <<He considered his coming martyrdom something he owed to God.>>

I will address the second first.

I don't see anywhere in IgEph where Ignatius expresses the thought that
his martyrdom was a debt which he owed to God, much less tribute ( a
specific sort of debt) paid to a foreign ruler. This idea presupposes a
vision of God in which He is very distant indeed. Surely Ignatius was on
more intimate terms with God than a vassal! But if I am wrong and he does
express this idea in another letter, please show me.

The definition of FOROS

This word does indeed mean "tribute" with the paroxytone accent. But the

lexicon (LSJ) contains another lemma for FOROS accented as an oxytone.
The definition given is "productive" or "fruitful." So "Fruitful for God"
would be just as likely a rendering as "Tribute to God" since,

1) there are no accents in the mss.

and

2) this is clearly what Ignatius wanted for his life and death in the
presence of God. cf. IgRom IV, 1 -- SITOS EIMI QEOU KAI DI' ODONTWN
QHRIWN ALHQOMAI, hINA KAQAROS ARTOS hEUREQW TOU CRISTOU.

But all this rather beside the point because we are dealing here with the
compound word QEOFOROS and not FOROS simply. The meaning of QEOFOROS was
well established in Greek usage long before the time of Ignatius. cf.
BDAG and LSJ (under QEOFOREW)

That meaning?

inspired
god-bearing
bearing or carrying a god
bearing the divine spirit within oneself

OR

<< God-bearer >>

I can't believe that Ignatius is introducing any novelty here in the 4th
word of his letters.

Yours in His grace,

Richard Ghilardi -- qodeshlayhvh@juno.com
New Haven, CT USA
Nibai kaurno hwaiteis gadriusando in airtha gaswiltith,
silbo ainata aflifnith: ith jabai gaswiltith, manag akran bairith.

---
B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [jwrobie@mindspring.com]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-327Q@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Feb 11 2002 - 18:40:34 EST